The Northern Ireland boss hailed the PM for savaging the bloc for slapping down her Chequers deal

The statement has pleased the Northern Irish party, who want to remain as close to the rest of the UK as they can.

Ms Foster accused the bloc as using the Good Friday Agreement and history of Northern Ireland for political gains.

She stormed: "The European Union needs to stop misusing the Northern Ireland peace process as some form of leverage."

Adding: "Any new regulatory barrier would be a matter for the Northern Ireland Assembly, where the DUP would veto any attempt to undermine the economic or constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom.”

Earlier Mrs May blasted the EU for only offering the UK two options, neither of which are acceptable to her.

She said one of them would see Northern Ireland effectively staying in the customs union, and “permanently separated economically from the rest of the UK by a border down the Irish Sea”.

The PM added: “It is something I will never agree to - indeed, in my judgement it is something no British Prime Minister would ever agree to.”

And ramping up the chances of the EU exiting the bloc without an agreement, she added: "Anything which fails to respect the referendum or which effectively divides our country in two would be a bad deal and I have always said no deal is better than a bad deal."